


miserable and magical at the same time

by Pawprinter



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: (sorry not sorry Finn), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Gyms, Meet-Cute, Protectiveness, Rock Climbing, Slight Character Bashing, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:36:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22021177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pawprinter/pseuds/Pawprinter
Summary: When Clarke runs into a cheating ex-boyfriend at the rock climbing gym, her first response is to avoid him at all costs.She did not expect to get stuck at the top of a rock climbing wall.And, more so, she did not expect to get help from the cocky gym owner.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 29
Kudos: 399
Collections: Bellarke Secret Santa 2019





	miserable and magical at the same time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [safeandsound13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/safeandsound13/gifts).



> This is written for Max for the [ Bellarke Secret Santa!!](https://bellarke-secretsanta.tumblr.com/) The holiday season ended me, so I’m a tad late, but I hope you enjoy regardless.
> 
> The title is based off the Taylor Swift song titled 22.
> 
> Disclaimer: pls. dont read this if you’re a fan of Finn. He’s a douche in this fic, whoops. I honestly don’t hate him; I just needed a guy to be an annoying ex and he fit the bill. Also, there’s mention of Flarke being a former relationship, although it doesn’t happen in the present fic.
> 
> NOTE: rated T for coarse language.
> 
> Enjoy!

Clarke didn’t  _ plan  _ for her day to go like this. 

In fact, if she knew she was going to get stuck against the ceiling of a gym that reeked of sweaty shoes and chalk while her ex-boyfriend watched her, she would’ve agreed to go with her mother to the boring-ass holiday brunch at the Jahas’.

The day started out with good intentions. She was going to workout, even if it was the last thing she did. December was always a horrible, horrible month for physical health, between finals week and holiday stress and  _ holiday food.  _ She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she went to the gym.

She should’ve known  _ something  _ was trying to spare her, even if she thought divine intervention was a load of shit, when her regular gym — the one she had an annual membership to — was closed for the holidays.

Which was how she found herself at a rock climbing gym across town, which resulted in her ending up in this horribly awkward situation.

But, honestly, what else was she  _ supposed  _ to do? She was already changed into her gym clothes, and she promised herself she wouldn’t lounge around in them anymore — not after last March, when she wore her workout clothes to binge  _ Game of Thrones.  _ And she didn’t want to go to another gym because she’d have to pay, and why the fuck would she pay for something she had a membership for at another gym?

Although, she would admit, it was a pretty stupid idea to go to  _ Polaris  _ that day. Or, more accurately, it was a pretty stupid idea to go to  _ Polaris  _ on any day. The only reason she knew about the gym that smelled like shit was her ex-boyfriend who smelled as equally as bad.

Finn Collins. 

God, she never thought she’d have to think of his name again. Like, really? What kind of name was Finn Collins? It sounded like he was named to be a fuck-boy by a naive showrunner obsessed with platonic relationships and killing characters that deserved better.

Or. 

_ Something. _

Maybe she was the naive one, considering she convinced herself on the drive over that she wouldn’t bump into Finn at the gym.  _ ‘He only talked about it once,’  _ she told herself.  _ ‘He wouldn’t rock climb anyways. He has nearly zero upper body strength.’ _

For awhile, she believed it.

When she pulled up, her stomach was queasy, like there was a mix between butterflies and molten lava in it. She was already sweating, which was impressive, considering her phone told her she only walked 300 meters that day.

Clarke eyed the two-storey building, her bottom lip between her teeth. She hoped she was in the wrong place because the building looked like it was falling apart and that didn’t exactly inspire confidence for the safety on the inside.

But, sure enough. The bright neon blue sign burned the word into her brain.  _ Polaris. _

Her whole body was shaking, and she tried to pass it off due to the cold. (Except, that didn’t really work, because she was wearing three layers and her car had the heat blasting.) She rubbed her hands against her pants, wiping the sweat off them.

(She couldn’t climb with sweaty hands, right? There must’ve been a rule against that due to safety hazards or something. Or, it felt like it should have been.)

Hours ago, Clarke thought that there wouldn’t be any harm with giving rock climbing a shot. She wanted to workout, she was in her gym clothes, and she thought it would make for a pretty cool Instagram story.

Except, she never really considered what she was getting herself into. 

_ This isn’t terrifying or anything,  _ she thought.  _ You’ll only be 40 feet in the air, attached to the wall by a thin piece of rope. It’s not like there’s a chance you’ll die. _

She rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. This wasn’t working. 

_ You can do this. You drove all the way out here. You woke up way too freakin’ early to drop out now. Nobody has died yet. Right? … right? Nobody’s died at this gym, have they? _

Clarke wasn’t sure.

She decided that she would’ve probably heard about it on the news if someone died at this gym, so she was probably right.

_ Probably. _

But, you know what? Clarke was a lot of things; a quitter not being one of them. Maybe she was a little too stubborn and determined than what was good for her, but she was going to kick the rock’s ass today.

Well, no, that sounded like she was threatening to throw fists with Dwayne Johnson, and she was  _ not  _ ready to fight that guy.

So.

She was going to kick  _ Polaris’  _ ass today.

(Better.)

With that motivation in her mind, she pulled her keys out of the ignition, grabbed her gym bag, and began to make her way into the ratty building.

The first thing she noticed as they entered the gym was how high the ceilings were. The walls stretched all the way to the ceilings and were dotted with multicoloured rocks. Some walls were at inclines, others were perpendicular with the floor, others had jutting cut outs that seemed physically impossible to navigate through.

She never realized how daunting this would actually be. Some walls looked doable – like the one on the right hand side with more rocks than she could count – but then there were other walls, like the one near the back of the gym, with  _ two whole fucking rocks on it. _

Who was going to climb that wall? Fucking  _ Elastigirl? Slender Man?  _ Jesus.

“Hey. Climbing today?”

Clarke peeled her gaze away from the walls for the first time since entering the gym and felt the air get knocked out of her chest. Leaning against the counter with the cash register along the side was a  _ damn gorgeous man. _

His shoulders were broad and his muscles clearly defined through this white shirt. His black hair curled around his ears and hung into his eyes, and  _ holy shit, his eyes. _

His eyes were a dark brown that reminded her of the forest and honey. It felt like she was slowly getting sucked into them, and she had no intention of pulling away.  _ God,  _ it felt like she could get lost in them – like she could see into his soul and beyond.

Wow. He was fucking stunning.

She realized that she was staring when he lifted an eyebrow and quirked his lips. Her gaze snapped away from him, and she pretended to read the sign that hung above his head.

“Uhm. Yeah. Climbing.” 

He pushed off from the counter and landed on the ground gracefully. His fluid movements reminded Clarke of a dancer. She swept over him once more. Hell, he reminded her of Greek heroes and gods. 

This shouldn’t be legal.

“I guess that’s a good sign. You’re in the right place.” She found herself drawn to his gaze again. “If it’s your first time here, you’ll have to sign a waiver.”

_ Oh, fucking fantastic.  _ That was just what she needed to hear. ‘If you die – and there’s a chance that you will – we are not liable. Good luck!’

Maybe she could still turn back.

Her thoughts must’ve been easy to guess, because the worker laughed. “You’re not going to die, Princess. I have to get you to sign these papers, otherwise lawyers will be up my ass in the unlikely case something  _ did  _ happen.”

Clarke narrowed her eyes. Who the fuck was this guy to call her  _ princess,  _ like he knew her so well?

“I’m just saying; if you need me to sign something that mentions the words ‘not responsible for any death or injury,’ I’m going to be a bit hesitant.”

“Do you know how many people have died here? Take a wild guess.” She didn’t answer. “Zero. Nobody’s died here.  _ You  _ won’t die here. You know, dead customers would kind of be bad for business and all.” His gaze travelled across her body quickly. “Besides, you’ll probably stick to the kiddie walls near the front.”

Clarke’s eyes narrowed. The muscles in her jaw flexed. “Excuse me?”

“I mean, they’re beginner walls. Easier to climb. I just assumed you’d want to stick to those ones.”

_ Fuck this guy.  _ He was arrogant, and rude, and cocky, and  _ getting on her nerves. _

(Granted, maybe it would’ve been a good idea to stick to those walls.)

(But fuck him for trying to tell her what to do.)

Suddenly, her fear of climbing melted away to determination. She was determined to prove Adonis over here wrong.

(Yeah. Her determination sometimes got her into trouble.)

“Do you have a pen?” He must’ve been expecting her to chicken out, as his eyes widened with shock. Clarke raised her eyebrows. “Unless you require my signature in blood?”

“No blood.” He reached behind the counter and pulled out the waiver and pen. “Blood requires a shit ton of cleaning. Despite what you think, I’m a  _ damn  _ good owner of this place, which means things are safe and blood is always cleaned.”

Clarke tried to hide her surprise as she signed her name on the dotted line. Ah, Asshole Adonis was the owner of  _ Polaris.  _ That explained why he felt comfortable enough acting cocky.

“Climbing gyms are safe, and  _ my  _ climbing gym is  _ really safe.  _ You’ll always be harnessed in and attached to the wall. Nothing can go wrong.”

Clarke didn’t feel any better about the situation. If there was one thing that she learned in life was the fact that  _ anything  _ could go wrong.

She passed him the signed waiver. “Like I can take your word for it.”

“The gym is padded, if that makes you feel any better?” he offered.

_ It did, but only by a fraction. _

He glanced down at her waiver for a brief moment. She watched a smirk grow on his lips.

“You’re Clarke? I’m Bellamy.”

_ Ah.  _ His name was Bellamy.

She studied him again.

Yeah. 

Bellamy fit him.

“Right then, princess. Let’s get you set with some gear.”

Clarke clenched her jaw. “You know my name now. No need to call me ‘princess,’ is there?”

His grin was cocky. “Of course not.  _ Princess.” _ Before she could retort back, he slid her a harness across the desk. “You’ll be needing this. Put it on like you’re putting on shorts; legs through both holes and straps around your hips.”

_ It was as if all knowledge of how to get dressed left her mind. _

_ Goodbye,  _ her last brain cell told her.  _ You’re going to die trying to prove a completely random stranger wrong. _

Bellamy watched her struggle for a minute that seemed to stretch on forever.  _ Finally,  _ she managed to get her legs through the right holes and pull the harness up to her hips. Bellamy’s eyes studied the fabric carefully, the ease of teasing and cockiness long gone.

“Good.” 

He showed her how to tighten the buckles on it, reaching across the desk to double check her looping. He leaned close enough to her to be enveloped by his scent, and she decided it wasn’t the  _ worst  _ thing in the world. It was a mixture of coffee and chalk, and it was endearing. 

“You’ll have to stick to the automatic systems,” Bellamy told her once he confirmed her harness was on properly. “It’s an automatic machine that’ll hold your rope.”

“It’s safe?” she questioned. The idea of relying on something mechanical to keep her from plumelting to her death was not assuring.

“The number of deaths in this gym hasn’t changed since you last asked,” he replied dryly. Clarke couldn’t help but snort in amusement. He was snarky and dry, but she had to admit he was pretty funny too. “They’re safe. Really. I’ve never had a problem before.”

She already had the visual in her mind. 

She’d fall forty feet.

She’d hit the padded flooring. 

The end.

_ It wasn’t exactly appealing. _

But the alternative was taking off the stupidly complicated harness and retreating to her car, and  _ she was not a quitter. _

“Sounds good,” she said.

_ It did not sound good. _

She didn’t make a move to leave the front counter. Bellamy leaned on the desk again, his eyes boring into hers. Clarke tried to keep her expression nonchalant, but it was clear that he could see through her mask. 

“I’ll keep an eye on you from here,” he promised her, his voice softer than before.

Clarke was terrified of the walls. She was terrified of climbing. She was terrified of falling forty feet. Even though he wouldn’t be able to do anything from the ground if she  _ did  _ fall, knowing  _ someone  _ would watch as she plummeted to her death made her feel more at ease.

Still, she managed a smile. “What good would that do?”

“If you die, I’ll call an ambulance.”

“And your lawyers.”

He smirked. “And my lawyers.”

She blew out a long breath and turned to the gym. She was making this a big deal, and it really wasn’t. She was going to hook herself up on the metal pulley. She was going to grab a rock. She was going to haul her ass up the wall, just like climbing a ladder. It was going to be easy. It was going to be  _ fine. _

“Cool. It’s cool.” She tugged on her harness, checking things were still in place. “Uh. Thanks. I guess.”

“No problem, princess.” He pushed himself off the counter, his cocky grin back in place. She glowered at the nickname. “Shout if you need me.”

And, with that, she left the safety of the front counter and ventured out into the gym. The building itself was fairly basic; it looked like an old warehouse that was stripped and turned into a gym. The outskirts of the building were adorned with climbing walls, with the centre being separated by more walls.

It was overwhelming to say the least.

Well, at least Bellamy wasn’t lying. The floor was spongy under her feet. She doubted it would truly make a difference if she fell from the ceiling, but it still made her feel better.

Clarke approached the first wall — the one with too many rocks to count.  _ The kiddie wall  _ was what Bellamy called it. 

Her gaze wandered over to the next wall, which looked a little harder than the first. And the next, which looked even more complicated. And the next, the next, the next, and—

Fuck it. Go big or go home, right? Screw Bellamy for assuming she was going to stick to the kiddie walls — she was going to prove him wrong.

(Because this was apparently what her life came to; proving hot strangers wrong.)

She wandered to the rock wall a few feet down. This one had fewer rocks than the first one, but still looked relatively simple. How hard could it be? She could climb flights of stairs and that’s all this was, right?

Right.

Before she could change her mind, she hooked her harness into the metal pulley system.

Staring at the wall made something bubble up inside of her. A deeper fear than before was growing in her stomach. Suddenly, the walls seemed taller, the rocks seemed sharper, the ropes seemed thinner. Her hands started to sweat and her arms felt weak — both horrible for climbing.

_ Fuck.  _ Maybe she should just go back to the car. Who cared if Bellamy thought she was terrified. Fuck! She  _ was  _ terrified. Or maybe—

_ Shit. _

Clarke froze up as soon as she heard a familiar voice. For a moment, the world stood still around her.

_ No. No, no, no, no. _

Finn.

She had the horrible skill of pick out his god-awful voice in a crowd, and it seemed to finally come in handy. That was unmistakably his voice in the distance.

_ He was here. _

_ Fuck. _

Clarke spun around wildly, dread growing inside of her. She didn’t want to see Finn today. In fact, she didn’t want to see Finn  _ ever.  _ He was a lying, cheating, manipulating asshole and she wanted nothing to do with him. Hell, she blocked his number as soon as they broke up, because she knew he would call her numerous times to try and apologize — just like he always did.

_ There.  _ A few walls away, she saw him. He was leaning against the side of a rock wall, his back towards her, talking with someone being strapped into the pulley system. 

And, in this moment, she knew she fucked up.

How did she convince herself that she wasn’t going to bump into Finn at Polaris — the very gym he told her about when they were still together?  _ ‘He only talked about it once,’  _ she told herself.  _ ‘He wouldn’t rock climb anyways. He has nearly zero upper body strength.’ _

She was stupid and this was stupid and—

_ FUCK. _

Clarke lunged towards the rock wall as soon as Finn started to turn towards her, and she hoped it would be enough to hide her identity. With her heart racing and her palms sweating, she grabbed the first rock and pulled herself onto the wall.

_ Shit, shit, shit, shit. _

Over and over, she reached for the rock above her, hauling her further and further away from where Finn Collins stood.

_ Ah, yes, there was nothing like attempting to avoid shitty ex-boyfriends that helped one overcome their petrifying fear of rock climbing. _

In hindsight, this was a stupid decision. The better option would’ve been to unhook herself and leave the gym as quickly as possible. She should’ve known racing up a forty foot wall for the first time was not the best idea.

Except, she did it.

And, somehow, she was even more fucked than she was thirty seconds ago.

Clarke didn’t know how she managed it, but she climbed to the very top of the rock wall. A few feet above her was the open ceiling. If she wanted to, she could stretch and touch one of the bright lights that hung from it. And, below her—

She nearly threw up.

Clarke clung to the two rocks near the top of the wall and sucked in a steadying breath.

_ Oh, shit. _

_ It was a long way down. _

She forced her eyes to lock on the chalk dusted wall in front of her and tried to pretend she wasn’t dangling forty feet in the air, only held up by her fucking sweaty hands and the piddly little metal cord attached to a harness. 

No, it was fine. It was all fine. She was just down on the ground, only a few feet away from the padded ground. Finn wasn’t in the same building as her. She just imagined him. It’s fine. 

“Clarke?!”

Everything was fine. She wasn’t going to die. She wasn’t hanging forty feet in the air. She wasn’t hearing Finn’s voice calling for her. She wasn’t. It was all good.

“Clarke, is that you!?”

Please. For the love of god. Couldn’t someone give her a Christmas miracle here?

“Clarke!”

_ Ignore him. Pretend you don’t hear him. Pretend you don’t know who he is. Pretend you aren’t Clarke. _

“Clarke, I know it’s you!”

Fuck.

Her heart was racing. Slowly, she peeled her gaze away from the dusty wall. The rocks felt slick under her. The rope was digging into her chin. Clarke would’ve sworn this was what an out of body experience felt like.

Forty feet below her, Finn Collins stood, his hands on his hips and his hair pulled back into a bemused bun. He was looking straight up at her and she swore under her breath. Maybe climbing up the wall to hide from him hadn’t been one of her brighter ideas. She was hanging in plain sight, ass out, without a clue on how to get down.

“Oh. Hi.”

Why her? Why Finn? Why, why, why, why?

The last time she saw him was the night they messily broke up — the same night she caught him cheating on her with another woman. Or, rather, the night she found out he was cheating on another woman with her. After that, she decided she didn’t owe him anything, and didn’t want to hear any of his excuses or apologies.

She intended to keep it that way.

_ R.I.P. to that plan. _

Finn shifted his weight from side to side, but didn’t make a move to leave. Clarke remained frozen to the wall.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” he called up to her.

_ Yeah, that feeling is mutual. _

“Cool.” Clarke looked away from him, feeling too dizzy to keep looking down. Her whole body was shaking — from exertion, from nerves, from adrenaline, she wasn’t sure. “Can we do this later?” (Never.) “I’m kind of busy here.” (Avoiding you.)

Finn was silent for a long minute. Clarke didn’t look back at him.

Finally, he spoke.

“Busy doing what? You’re… You’re done the route. You’re at the top of the wall.”  _ Shit.  _ “Uh… Are you going to come down?”

Clarke was desperate to think of an excuse. She did  _ not  _ want to do this — not today, not ever. She didn’t want to have to listen to Finn’s excuses, or hear his whiny voice, or have him completely ignore what she was saying and what she wanted.

“I can’t.” She glanced up at the metal pulley and swore. “I’m stuck.”

Really, it was by choice that she was up here, not because the automatic belay systems failed. But Finn didn’t need to know that.

“You’re…  _ you’re what?” _

“It’s broken. The pulley system.” She glanced back down at him and hoped she sounded convincing. “I’m not coming down because I’m stuck up here.”

Finn was silent for a long moment, and Clarke truly believed he was going to give it up and leave her alone.

But, as it turned out, luck was not on her side today.

“I can come up and help!” Before she could respond, he was moving towards the pulley system on the wall beside hers. “Just stay there.”

“Fuck,” Clarke hissed. Before she could figure out what to say, Finn was already hooking himself up on the wall and reassuring her that it would be okay.

Her eyes darted around the building, looking for anything —  _ literally anything  _ — that could save her from this moment. 

Well, she could always rappel back down to the ground once Finn got up to her level. That would give her enough time to unhook from the wall and make a hasty escape. With a bit of luck, she could be out of the building before he was unhooked from the pulley. She could—

“Bellamy!” Clarke felt a wave of relief hit her when she saw the gym owner approaching her. He was glancing back and forth between Finn and Clarke, clearly confused. “Hey!”

He spoke hesitantly. “Everything okay, princess?”

Clarke could see Finn physically freeze as soon as Bellamy spoke.  _ He was her perfect escape route. _

“I’m stuck,” she lied again. “Your pulley system is broken. I can’t get down.”

Bellamy can to a stop beside Finn, looking even more confused than a few seconds before. He glanced at Finn for a long moment before turning back to Clarke.

“It’s broken?” he asked.

“Yep.”

“How? In which way is it broken? What’s wrong with it?”

Clarke glanced up at the pulley system. It was a simple wheel with a metal cord wrapped around it. How could these things break?

“It’s… smoking?” She glanced back at Bellamy. “And… the rope is… loose.” 

She hoped that what she said made sense, even though she was pulling it out of her ass. She waited with baited breath as Bellamy considered her words.

Just when she thought he was going to call her bluff, he spoke.

“I’ll be right there with the ladder. Just… hold on.” He walked backwards a few steps, his gaze never leaving her. “Don’t let go.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

With that, he hurried away to fetch the ladder.

_ Hm.  _ Maybe she was a better bullshitter than she thought she was — he actually sounded concerned for her safety and was rushing to help her. She almost felt bad lying to him. 

Then she remembered that the alternative was Finn climbing up to ‘save’ her. 

Those feelings disappeared quickly.

Her arms were starting to burn. She wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to hold herself up on the wall, which sucked because then she’d have to talk to Finn. 

Before she could begin to spiral, Bellamy returned with the ladder and began to make the climb up to her. Finn remained on the ground, hovering around the base of the rock wall.

“Are you okay?” Bellamy asked as soon as he reached her. She shifted her stance so she could see him better. “You’re not hurt are you?”

“No. Happy to tell you no lawyers will need to be called; I’m still alive and uninjured.” At hearing her light-hearted joke, the concern seemed to melt off his expression. She was touched that he was genuinely worried for her.

“Good. Okay.” He shifted on the ladder, inching closer to her. Despite being so high up and not attached to anything, he looked relaxed. “Can I put my arm around you? I don’t want you to fall.” 

_ Right.  _ She was going to have to tell him she lied about the broken pulley situation, which was bound to be awkward.

She knew this, yet she still answered.

“Sure. Yes. Go ahead.”

One of his arms remained linked around a ladder rung as he closed the gap between their two bodies. His foot found purchase on the rock beside hers and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

_ Oh. _

_ Fuck. _

Clarke’s breath hitched from the strong hold around her body. Her heart thudded against her chest. She hoped Bellamy assumed her racing heart was from fear and adrenaline, not  _ this,  _ whatever  _ this  _ was.

“You okay?” he asked again, this time much softer than before. His breath washed against her face. She swallowed thickly.

“I’m fine.” Clarke looked away from him and set her jaw. “Although, I kind of lied earlier. I’m… Shit. I’m not stuck. The pulley isn’t broken.”

Bellamy let out a laugh, surprising her. “I know.” Her head whipped towards his. His eyes crinkled with amusement.

“You  _ what?”  _ She couldn’t help but let out a little laugh at his amused expression. “But you’re here? You climbed a ladder? You’re— I— How?”

“The automatic belays are set up on a hydraulic system. They shouldn’t be smoking if they break.” He glanced up at the pulley, confirming that it was intact. “If you truly managed to break this thing, I would’ve been  _ very  _ impressed, by the way. Like I said; these things don’t give me issues.”

“If you knew it wasn’t broken, why are you here?” Clarke couldn’t figure out his train of thought on this one. Why would he waste his time and energy to climb and fix the pulley if he knew there was nothing to fix in the first place?

“Because you seem like the type of person that wouldn’t lie about something so small without a good reason.”

“The type of person?” she echoed, her brow rising. “We barely know each other.”

“And yet I knew you were lying.” 

“You knew I was lying because I don’t know shit about rock climbing and hydraulic pulley systems, not because you know me.”

Bellamy sighed. “I think it’s a pretty basic human quality; most people aren’t going to lie about something unimportant.” His mouth hardened into a line. “I’m assuming you had a reason to pretend you’re stuck up here, and I’m going to take a wild guess it has something to do with our hopeful knight in shining armor down there.”

Damn. She had to give him credit; he was perceptive.

“He’s an ex,” she explained. “I’m trying to avoid him.”

Bellamy smirked. Maybe it was the angle she was at, or maybe it was because he climbed up a forty foot ladder to pretend to rescue her, but his smirk didn’t irk her like it did before.

“That would explain how you got up here so fast.”

“The only way to avoid him was up.”

“And how’s that working out for you?”

She glanced below, where Finn was still hovering. She sighed. “Clearly, not very well.”

They fell silent for a long moment. Clarke was fresh out of ideas. She couldn’t very well stay up here all day, even if she wanted to. She was going to have to come down eventually, and it looked as though Finn had no plans in leaving without speaking to her.

“It’s fine,” she told him. He studied her expression. “Just… pretend to fix the pulley? Please? Sorry for dragging you into this — I’m sure you have something more important to do.”

“I would offer you words of advice, but dealing with exes is shitty.”

“Shittier than cleaning up blood?” she countered. Bellamy grinned at that. For a moment, they felt a lot closer than strangers did. Their shared gaze and banter reminded her of one between friends.

_ It was nice. _

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Shittier than that.” He gestured towards the rocks she was gripping. “Got a good hold? I’m going to let you go.”

He pulled back from their partial embrace and climbed the remaining distance to the pulley. As he pretended to work, she racked her brain to attempt to figure out how to brush Finn off quickly. Somehow, she doubted ‘leave me alone’ or ‘I don’t want to hear it’ or ‘screw off’ were going to have an impact on him.

“Okay, you’re good, Clarke.” Bellamy flashed her a thumbs up — a gesture that doubled as a good luck wish. 

She was screwed.

The rappel down was too quick for her liking. The only good thing about it was the fact she was so caught up in trying to figure out how to get rid of Finn, she didn’t have time to worry about falling to her death.

He pounced as soon as both her feet were on the ground.

“Clarke,” he said, his voice confident, as if he was so sure she’d forgive him. Fat chance. “We need to talk.”

Here we go.

She locked eyes with him. A charged moment passed. Clarke wished he’d get the message from the withering look she sent him, but, unfortunately, Finn Collins was very perceptive.

_ “We,”  _ she snapped, “don’t need to do anything.” She unclipped the metal rope from her harness and turned to face him. She tried to keep her expression neutral.

“Well, whatever. I need to talk to you.” Finn raised his eyebrows. “There’s so much I need to say.”

Clarke chose her words wisely. “We broke up  _ weeks  _ ago, Finn. I don’t want to talk. I assumed your blocked number would’ve made that clear.”

“And I assumed you would’ve gotten over it by now,” he said, his voice tense. Clarke clenched her jaw. “It was just a misunderstanding, right?”

She didn’t want to do this today.  _ She really didn’t want to do this today.  _

“I don’t want to talk to you, Finn.”

With each passing second, she was growing more and more frustrated.

“It happened weeks ago. Can you just… chill out? And listen to me? Please?”

She was filled with a flash of anger. Clarke’s expression hardened. “Considering all that you did, I am pretty  _ chill,  _ okay? I told you no. Can you at least  _ try  _ and not be a jerk and respect that?” 

“Clarke, you don’t even know what happened! How can you—”

“No!” She had enough. “I’m serious, Finn, leave me alone. I don’t  _ need  _ to talk to you — I don’t want to talk to you. We’re done here, okay? No.”

“Clarke—”

“Princess.” God, she never would’ve thought she’d be happy to hear that name. Bellamy dismounted the ladder and eyed Finn carefully. “Everything okay?”

Finn answered for her. Typical. “We’re fine,” he snapped. “She’s my girlfriend. It’s fine.”

Clarke laughed — she truly, genuinely laughed. “I’m your girlfriend?!” she echoed in disbelief. “We broke up weeks ago. I don’t know how I can make this any clearer to you; we’re done. I don’t want to talk to you. I’m not interested in working things out, or clearing up what you call misunderstandings, or  _ whatever,  _ okay? I said no, Finn.”

“But—”

“Dude. She said no.” Bellamy hung back a few paces and kept his expression unreadable. “You’re being a dick.”

Clarke had to bite her lip to hide her smile.

Finn sputtered and his face grew red. “Bellamy, man, you don’t know what’s going on and—”

“Listen, I think I know enough. She said no, that’s that. End of conversation.” He glanced at Clarke. She tried to convey how thankful she was for him stepping in and putting him in his place. “Princess, I have the new shoes in the back for you to check out, if you’re not headed out right away?”

_ Thank fuck.  _ Somehow, this stranger managed to knock the misogynistic asshole Finn back in place and provide her with a graceful exit.

“Yes. Of course. I wanna check those shoes out before I go.” Clarke turned stiffly back to Finn. “If me blocking you on every piece of social media didn’t send you a clear message, here it is; we are done, and I don’t want to hear from you.” She took a step towards the front desk, but faltered and turned back to Finn. “And no means no, asshole.”

It was minutes later, when they were both behind the front desk, that Clarke blew out a long breath.

“Fuck,” she breathed. “That was so stupid.” She glanced at him. “Thank you.”

Bellamy grew awkward. “Sorry I jumped in there. It sounded like you had it under control, but he looked like a douche that doesn’t respect a woman saying no, yet they respect a completely random man that was unrelated to the conversation and has no right to dictate what a woman can or can’t do.”

“That’s Finn,” she muttered.

“I have a younger sister and I’ve heard a horrifying amount of stories involving guys like him. I always told myself I’d step in if I saw something like that; a douche completely disrespecting women and harassing someone.” He genuinely looked hesitant in that moment. “I… I didn’t want to play into the whole ‘nice man rescues damsel in distress from mean man’ thing though, and I hope it didn’t come off that way.”

Clarke lifted an eyebrow. “Do you consider me a damsel in distress?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Then it didn’t come off that way,” she said. She smiled. “I appreciate you stepping in. Finn is… Well, Finn’s  _ Finn. _ He always gets what he wants and, if he doesn’t, he puts up a pretty big fight.” And bumped shoulders with him. “You were an ally, Bellamy. You didn’t overstep. Standing by and  _ not _ calling those men out — that’s not helping anyone. Silence is compliance. So… thank you. For having my back.”

He looked relieved at that. Fuck, if he wasn’t attractive before, he sure as hell was now. He was good looking, funny,  _ and  _ a feminist? Damn.

They shared a smile. Her heart fluttered.

“Besides the shitty ex-boyfriend, did you enjoy climbing?” Bellamy asked, breaking the silence that shrouded them.

“No,” she told him honestly. He laughed. “I mean, I didn’t really give it a fair shot. I climbed one wall to escape an ex-boyfriend and then pretended to get stuck up there. Not a great first time.”

“Next time you want to climb, let me know, and we can climb after hours or something. I think I can convince you that it’s fun once you’re not trying to avoid an ex.”

_ Next time. _

A slow smile spread across her lips. She would very happily have a next time, as long as it meant spending more time with him.

“Yes,” she said. “I’d like that.”

“Me too.”

They smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was partially inspired by [ this set of tweets](https://twitter.com/captaindaddykru/status/1141812827923124224) from Max. Basically: Finn/Clarke issues, stranger!Bellamy helps bail her out. I also really wanted to write a rock climbing fic for AGES so........
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Comments and kudos are appreciated!
> 
> [Find me on Tumblr!](https://pawprinterfanfic.tumblr.com)  
> You can find the moodboard for this fic [here](https://pawprinterfanfic.tumblr.com/post/189943857967/miserable-and-magical-at-the-same-time-rated-t)!


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